Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and recording medium that records history information control program

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus include storing history information into a first storage section that accumulates history information concerning a process performed, transmitting a received acquisition request of the history information accumulated into the first storage section, transmitting the accumulated history information to the history information accumulation section having transmitted the acquisition request, transmitting the history information to the another history information accumulation section, transmitting the acquisition request to the first history information accumulation section at a time of startup, and storing the transmitted history information into a second storage section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2008-72286, filed on Mar. 19, 2008, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an informationprocessing apparatus and method thereof.

BACKGROUND

In the prior art, various kinds of backup techniques have been discussed(JP-A-2000-89917, JP-A-2002-49534, JP-A-2002-297427, andJP-A-H11-53123). For example, in an information processing apparatusprovided with a processing section for performing a predeterminedprocessing and a log information accumulation section having a storagesection for accumulating log information which is the log of theprocessing section, a technique is known in which log information ismultiplexed and synchronously recorded into a plurality of loginformation accumulation sections.

For example, in the information processing apparatus, the loginformation accumulation sections are composed of a log informationaccumulation section of an operation system for acquiring loginformation from the processing section and storing the information intoa storage section; and a log acquisition apparatus of a standby systemfor acquiring the log information acquired by the log informationaccumulation section of operation system, and storing the informationinto a storage section. Further, in this information processingapparatus, a technique is employed that at the time of synchronizing thelog information, the log information accumulation section of operationsystem monitors the startup timing of the standby-system log informationaccumulation section.

That is, in the prior art information processing apparatus, theoperation-system log information accumulation section always monitorswhether the standby-system log information accumulation section hasstarted up. Then, when a monitoring result that the standby-system loginformation accumulation section has started up is obtained, theoperation-system log information accumulation section transmits theacquired log information to the standby-system log informationaccumulation section.

Then, the standby-system log information accumulation section storesinto the storage section the log information transmitted from theoperation-system log information accumulation section. As a result,synchronization is established between the log information stored in theoperation-system log information accumulation section and the loginformation stored in the standby-system log information accumulationsection.

Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned technique, the operation-system loginformation accumulation section needs to monitor whether thestandby-system log information accumulation section has started up. Thishas prevented reduction of processing load of synchronization.

For example, in the prior art technique, the operation-system loginformation accumulation section always monitors whether thestandby-system log information accumulation section has started up.Then, only when the startup is confirmed, log information is transmittedto the standby-system log information accumulation section. Thus, in theprior art the information processing apparatus, log informationsynchronization cannot be achieved without the necessity of monitoringwhether the standby-system log information accumulation section hasstarted up. This has prevented reduction of processing load ofsynchronization. Here, the above-mentioned Patent Documents do notdisclose a technique of synchronization processing without monitoring.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the invention, a method and apparatus areprovided for processing information. According to an embodiment a methodthat controls an information processing apparatus including storinghistory information acquired from a processing section into a firststorage section provided in a first history information accumulationsection that accumulates history information concerning a processperformed by a processing section, transmitting a received acquisitionrequest of the history information accumulated into the first storagesection, transmitting the accumulated history information to anotherhistory information accumulation section having transmitted theacquisition request, transmitting the history information to the otherhistory information accumulation section, transmitting the acquisitionrequest to the first history information accumulation section at a timeof startup, and storing the transmitted history information into asecond storage section provided in a second history informationaccumulation section.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and, in part, will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of an information processing apparatusaccording to an embodiment the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an information processingapparatus;

FIG. 3 illustrates a log information accumulation section;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of log information;

FIG. 5 illustrates an operation-system log information accumulationsection;

FIG. 6 illustrates a standby-system log information accumulationsection;

FIG. 7 illustrates an initialization process performed by an informationprocessing apparatus;

FIG. 8 illustrates an initialization process performed by an informationprocessing apparatus;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of a new log information transmissionprocess performed by an information processing apparatus;

FIG. 10 illustrates a sequence diagram of new log informationtransmission performed by an information processing apparatus;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of a new log information storingprocess performed by an information processing apparatus; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate programs provided in a log informationaccumulation section.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described below to explain the present invention byreferring to the figures.

Embodiments of an information processing apparatus are described belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an information processing apparatus according to anembodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus accordingto an embodiment includes a processing section that performs a (certain)process, and a log information accumulation section including a storagesection that accumulates log information of the process performed by theprocessing section. The log information is an example of historyinformation.

The log information accumulation section, in other words, a monitorunit, is installed in the information processing apparatus. The loginformation accumulation section acquires log information from theprocessing section such as a system board and an IO unit provided in theinformation processing apparatus. While a few examples of a processingsection is provided, the present invention is not limited to acquiringprocessing information from any particular section. Instead, the presentinvention may acquire information of processing(s) from any system,processor, computer, and/or device that performs specialized or generaloperation(s).

The log information indicates a state of the information processingapparatus. A log concerning a processing section provided in aninformation processing apparatus, for example, such as a main (business)server may correspond to the “log information” mentioned here. Anexample of the “log information” is a log that indicates presence oroccurrence of abnormality in the processing section.

The information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 has Nprocessing sections, processing section 1 to processing section N, andtwo log information accumulation sections. Further, the informationprocessing apparatus has an operation-system log informationaccumulation section and a standby-system log information accumulationsection that serve as log information accumulation sections.

The operation-system log information accumulation section indicates alog information accumulation section that is presently acquiring loginformation from the processing section as illustrated in part (1) ofFIG. 1. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1 (1), the operation-systemlog information accumulation section acquires log information concerningeach processing section from each of the processing sections 1 to N.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 (2), the operation-system log informationaccumulation section stores log information newly acquired from any ofthe processing section into a first storage section serving as a storagesection provided in the operation-system log information accumulationsection. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1 (2), the operation-systemlog information accumulation section stores the log information acquiredfrom each of the processing sections 1 to N into the first storagesection.

The standby-system log information accumulation section acquires loginformation from the operation-system log information accumulationsection. The standby-system log information accumulation sectionillustrated in FIG. 1 acquires the log information stored in the firststorage section from the operation-system log information accumulationsection, and stores the acquired information into the second storagesection provided in the standby-system log information accumulationsection.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 (3), the standby-system log informationaccumulation section starts up. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 1 (4), thestandby-system log information accumulation section transmits anacquisition request for log information to the operation-system loginformation accumulation section. The “acquisition request” indicatesthat the standby-system log information accumulation section requeststhe acquisition of log information accumulated into the first storagesection by the operation-system log information accumulation section. Anexample of the “acquisition request” is a request for acquiring all loginformation accumulated in the first storage section issued at a pointin time that the standby-system log information accumulation sectiontransmits an acquisition request, or alternatively at a point in timethat the acquisition request is received by the operation-system loginformation accumulation section.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 (5), in the information processing apparatus,the operation-system log information accumulation section transmits alllog information. When receiving an acquisition request from thestandby-system log information accumulation section serving as anotherlog information accumulation section, the operation-system loginformation accumulation section transmits the log informationaccumulated in the first storage section to the standby-system loginformation accumulation section having transmitted the acquisitionrequest.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 (6), in the information processing apparatus,the standby-system log information accumulation section stores the loginformation received from the operation-system log informationaccumulation section. The standby-system log information accumulationsection stores all log information transmitted from the operation-systemlog information accumulation section in response to an acquisitionrequest, into a second storage section provided in the standby-systemlog information accumulation section.

In the information processing apparatus, when the operation-system loginformation accumulation section newly acquires log information from theprocessing section as shown in FIG. 1 (7), the operation-system loginformation accumulation section transmits the newly acquired loginformation to the standby-system log information accumulation sectionas illustrated in FIG. 1 (8).

In the information processing apparatus, as illustrated in FIG. 1 (9),the standby-system log information accumulation section stores the loginformation newly transmitted from the operation-system log informationaccumulation section. That is, the standby-system log informationaccumulation section stores the log information newly acquired by theoperation-system log information accumulation section into the secondstorage section and transmitted to the standby-system log informationaccumulation section.

As described above, in the information processing apparatus, withoutmonitoring whether the standby-system log information accumulationsection has started up, the operation-system log informationaccumulation section may synchronize the data stored in theoperation-system log information accumulation section with the datastored in the standby-system log information accumulation section. Thus,in the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment, theprocessing load of synchronization of data can be reduced.

The information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 is furtherdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. Description is givenbelow of a configuration of an information processing apparatus, ahardware configuration of a log information accumulation section, and aconfiguration of software of the log information accumulation section.The following description is given for a case that the informationprocessing apparatus has one operation-system log informationaccumulation section and one standby-system log information accumulationsection. However, the present invention is not limited to thisconfiguration. The information processing apparatus may have a pluralityof standby-system log information accumulation sections.

The configuration of the information processing apparatus is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating aconfiguration of an information processing apparatus according to anembodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processingapparatus 200 has a crossbar board (XB) 201 and a status display panel202. The information processing apparatus 200 has a power supply unit205 and a cooling fan 206. The information processing apparatus 200further has a system board (SB) 208, an IO unit (IOU) 209, and a lineswitch 210.

The information processing apparatus 200 has a plurality of loginformation accumulation sections. In FIG. 2, the information processingapparatus 200 has one operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 and one standby-system log information accumulation section400.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 200 has aplurality of power supply units 205 and a plurality of cooling fans 206.The information processing apparatus 200 has two XBs 201 and two lineswitches 210. However, the present invention is not limited to anyparticular number of components.

The information processing apparatus 200 has an operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 and a standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 that serve as log informationaccumulation sections. The XBs 201, the status display panel 202, thepower supply unit 205, the cooling fan 206, the SBs 208, the IOUs 209,and the line switches 210 are individually (directly) connected only tothe operation-system log information accumulation section 300, but notconnected to the standby-system log information accumulation section400. Further, the information processing apparatus 200 is connected to aremote management apparatus 100 for managing the information processingapparatus 200.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, an embodiment describes for a case that theXBs 201, the status display panel 202, the power supply unit 205, thecooling fan 206, the SBs 208, the IOUs 209, the line switches 210, andthe log information accumulation section are provided inside theinformation processing apparatus 200. In an embodiment, the remotemanagement apparatus 100 is located outside the information processingapparatus 200.

The following description is given under the assumption that the XBs201, the status display panel 202, the power supply unit 205, thecooling fan 206, the SBs 208, the IOUs 209, and the line switches 210individually serve as processing sections for performing certain(predetermined) processing.

The XBs 201 are connected with the SBs 208, the IOUs 209, and theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300. The XBs 201connects each of the plurality of SBs 208 to each of the plurality ofIOUs 209 in one-to-one correspondence, and controls data transferbetween each of the SBs 208 and each of the IOUs 209. In a case that twoXBs 201 are provided in the information processing apparatus 200, thetwo XBs 201 have a similar function to each other. Further, the two XBshave a mutually similar connecting relation to other processingsections. When the two XBs 201 are operating normally, the two XBs 201perform corresponding process individually. Further, when abnormalityoccurs in one XB 201, the XB 201 having the abnormality is disconnectedby reboot of the server and the like. Alternatively, the process of theXB 201 having the abnormality is terminated, and then the other XB 201having no abnormality processes the data transfer. The above-mentioneddescription has been given for the case that the XBs 201 connect each ofthe plurality of SBs 208 to each of the plurality of IOUs 209 inone-to-one correspondence. However, the present invention is not limitedto this configuration. The SBs and the IOUs may be connected inplural-to-plural correspondence.

The status display panel 202 is connected to the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300. The status display panel 202displays information concerning the information processing apparatus 200to, for example, a managing operator who manages the informationprocessing apparatus 200. When power is supplied to the informationprocessing apparatus 200 and hence the information processing apparatus200 can perform corresponding process, the status display panel 202turns ON a certain LED, for example, an LED “A”. Further, when power isnot supplied to the information processing apparatus 200 and hence theinformation processing apparatus 200 cannot perform correspondingprocess, the status display panel 202 turns OFF the LED.

The power supply unit 205 is connected to the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300. The power supply unit 205 suppliespower to other processing sections. The cooling fan 206 is connected tothe operation-system log information accumulation section 300. Thecooling fan 206 is used for cooling other apparatuses.

The SBs 208 are connected to the XBs 201 and the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300. Each SB 208 has a CPU, a memory,and the like, and performs corresponding process in the informationprocessing apparatus 200. The IOUs 209 are connected to the XBs 201 andthe operation-system log information accumulation section 300. Each IOU209 inputs and outputs data. The line switches 210 are connected to theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300. Each lineswitch 210 is connected to the line outside the information processingapparatus 200 and realizes a switching function.

When abnormality occurs during the process such as the execution of acertain application, the SBs 208, the IOUs 209, and the line switches210 transmit to the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 log information concerning the abnormality and aninstruction of registering the log information, that is, a command forrequesting the registration of the log information.

As described below, each log information accumulation section has astorage section for accumulating the log information of the processperformed by the processing section. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the loginformation accumulation sections includes the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 and the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400. The operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 are connected to the standby-systemlog information accumulation section 400. As illustrated in FIG. 2, theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 and thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400 connected toeach other through a LAN in the inside of the information processingapparatus 200. While some components in FIG. 2 are described as beingconnected to other(s), the present invention is not limited to suchconfigurations.

The hardware configuration of the log information accumulation sectionis described below with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a block diagramillustrating a configuration of a log information accumulation sectionaccording to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the loginformation accumulation section has serial communication bus ports 501,BUS-SWs 502, a serial communication bus controller 503, aninter-log-information-accumulation-section LAN ports 504, a RAM 505, anonvolatile memory B 506, a nonvolatile memory C 507, a nonvolatilememory A 508, and an MPU 509.

The log information accumulation sections includes the operation-systemlog information accumulation section 300 and the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400. In the following description, theconfiguration of the log information accumulation section is describedwith reference to FIG. 3 for a case that the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 and the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 have the same structure.

The difference between the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 and the standby-system log information accumulation section400 according to an embodiment will be described below briefly. Thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400 is not connectedto the individual sections provided in the information processingapparatus 200. That is, the plurality of the serial communication busports 501 in the standby-system log information accumulation section 400are not connected to the individual sections in the informationprocessing apparatus 200. Further, the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 is always provided inside the informationprocessing apparatus 200, while information of the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 is exchanged at a fixed period.

When failure occurs in the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 so that an operation system cannot continue an operation, oralternatively when the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 is to be exchanged in accordance with an instruction of auser, the operation-system log information accumulation section 300operates as the standby system, while the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 operates as the operation system. At that time,the plurality of serial communication bus ports 501 in theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 aredisconnected from the individual sections in the information processingapparatus 200. Then, instead, the plurality of serial communication busports 501 in the standby-system log information accumulation section areconnected to the individual sections in the information processingapparatus 200.

When abnormality occurs during the execution of the process, thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400 transmits to theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 loginformation concerning the abnormality, and an instruction ofregistering the log information, that is, a command for requesting theregistration of the log information.

The serial communication bus ports 501, the BUS-SWs 502, the serialcommunication bus controller 503, theinter-log-information-accumulation-section LAN ports 504, the RAM 505,the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatile memory C 507, thenonvolatile memory A 508, and the MPU 509 each performs correspondingprocess.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the log information accumulation section hasthe plurality of serial communication bus ports 501 and the BUS-SWs 502.

The serial communication bus ports 501 are connected to the BUS-SWs 502in the inside of the log information accumulation section. Further, theserial communication bus ports 501 are connected to the individualprocessing sections in the information processing apparatus 200 locatedoutside the log information accumulation section. Examples of theprocessing sections include the XBs 201, the status display panel 202,the power supply unit 205, the cooling fan 206, the SBs 208, the IOUs209, and the line switches 210. The plurality of serial communicationbus ports 501 are connected to the individual processing sections in theinformation processing apparatus 200 located outside the log informationaccumulation section.

Each serial communication bus port 501 relays the data transmitted andreceived between each processing section in the information processingapparatus 200 located outside the log information accumulation sectionand the operation-system log information accumulation section.

The BUS-SWs 502 are connected to the serial communication bus ports 501and the serial communication bus controller 503. Each of the pluralityof BUS-SWs 502 is connected to each of the plurality of serialcommunication bus ports 501. Further, each BUS-SW 502 relays datatransmitted and received between the serial communication bus ports 501and the serial communication bus controller 503. Each of the BUS-SWs 502collects information received from the individual sections in theinformation processing apparatus 200 by the plurality of serialcommunication bus ports 501 respectively, and then transmits thecollected information to the serial communication bus controller 503.Further, in accordance with the information received from the serialcommunication bus controller 503, each BUS-SW 502 identifies aprocessing section to which the information is to be transmitted in theinformation processing apparatus 200. The BUS-SW 502 transmits theinformation to a serial communication bus port 501 connected to theidentified processing section.

The serial communication bus controller 503 is connected to the BUS-SWs502, the inter log information accumulation section LAN ports 504, theRAM 505, the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatile memory C 507, thenonvolatile memory A 508, and the MPU 509. The serial communication buscontroller 503 relays data transmitted and received between the BUS-SWs502 and the MPU 509.

The inter log information accumulation section LAN ports 504 areconnected to the serial communication bus controller 503, the RAM 505,the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatile memory C 507, thenonvolatile memory A 508, and the MPU 509. Further, the inter loginformation accumulation section LAN ports 504 are connected to otherlog information accumulation sections. Each inter log informationaccumulation section LAN port 504 relays data transmitted and receivedbetween other log information accumulation sections and the MPU 509.

The RAM 505 is connected to the serial communication bus controller 503,the inter log information accumulation section LAN ports 504, thenonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatile memory C 507, the nonvolatilememory A 508, and the MPU 509. The RAM 505 serves as a main memory whenthe MPU 509 operates. Further, the RAM 505 stores temporarily loginformation of the individual sections in the information processingapparatus 200 inputted by the MPU 509. After the log informationinputted to the RAM 505 is read, the log information is deleted by theMPU 509. Alternatively, another data is overwritten by the MPU 509.

The nonvolatile memory B 506 is connected to the serial communicationbus controller 503, the inter log information accumulation section LANports 504, the RAM 505, the nonvolatile memory C 507, the nonvolatilememory A 508, and the MPU 509. The nonvolatile memory B 506 stores, forexample, an operating system (OS) executed by the MPU 509.

The nonvolatile memory C 507 is connected to the serial communicationbus controller 503, the inter log information accumulation section LANports 504, the RAM 505, the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatilememory A 508, and the MPU 509. The nonvolatile memory C 507 stores loginformation. Further, as described later, the nonvolatile memory C 507receives the input of log information from the MPU 509, and stores theinputted log information.

The nonvolatile memory A 508, is connected to the serial communicationbus controller 503, the inter log information accumulation section LANports 504, the RAM 505, the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatilememory C 507, and the MPU 509. The nonvolatile memory A 508 storessoftware for controlling the log information accumulation section.Further, the nonvolatile memory A 508 receives log information inputtedfrom the MPU 509 and then stores the inputted log information.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the nonvolatile memory C 507 and thenonvolatile memory A 508 store the log information inputted to the MPU509. The nonvolatile memory C 507 and the nonvolatile memory A 508 storelog information, an information source that indicates the informationsource of the log information and an acquisition date and time thatindicates the date and time of acquisition of the log information, in acorresponding manner. In FIG. 4, the nonvolatile memory C 507 and thenonvolatile memory A 508 store the log information “voltageabnormality”, the information source “power supply unit”, and theacquisition date and time “2008/3/3” in a corresponding manner.

An embodiment describes a case where without requiring distinguishingbetween the nonvolatile memory C 507 and the nonvolatile memory A 508,the log information accumulation section stores the log information intoa vacant region in any one of the nonvolatile memory C 507 and thenonvolatile memory A 508.

An embodiment describes a case that the “information source” and the“acquisition date and time” are used in a correspondence manner to thelog information. However, the present invention is not limited to thisconfiguration. For example, the “log information” may solely be used.Further, any one of the log information, the “acquisition date andtime”, the “information source” may be used. Alternatively, anotherinformation may be used together.

The MPU 509 is connected to the serial communication bus controller 503,the inter log information accumulation section LAN ports 504, the RAM505, the nonvolatile memory B 506, the nonvolatile memory C 507, thenonvolatile memory A 508. The MPU 509 executes the software stored inthe nonvolatile memory A 508 to control the log information accumulationsections. When log information is transmitted from the individualsections in the information processing apparatus 200 to the serialcommunication bus controller 503, the MPU 509 stores the transmitted loginformation into the RAM 505. Details of process for the log informationstored in the RAM 505 are described later.

The flow of log information in the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 is described below. Log information inputtedfrom outside of the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 to the operation-system log information accumulation section300 is transmitted to the MPU 509 via the serial communication bus ports501, the BUS-SWs 502, and the serial communication bus controller 503,and stored into the RAM 505. The log information stored in the RAM 505is stored into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A508 by the MPU 509.

The software configuration of the log information accumulation sectionis described below. For simplicity of description, the configuration ofthe operation-system log information accumulation section of descriptionis described first. Then, the configuration of the standby-system loginformation accumulation section is described next.

The following description is given under the assumption that differentkinds of software used respectively in the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 and the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 are stored in the nonvolatilememory A 508.

Although not mentioned in the following description, the followingprocess is performed when the MPU 509 reads the software stored in thenonvolatile memory A 508 and then executes the software. In other words,software that sets forth processes described below is stored in advancein the nonvolatile memory A 508.

The operation-system log information accumulation section 300 isdescribed below with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a block diagramillustrating a configuration of an operation-system log informationaccumulation section according to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG.5, the operation-system log information accumulation section has a logmanagement section 601, an apparatus monitoring section 602, a logregistration request receiving section 603, and an inter-systemcommunication section 604.

The log management section 601 of the operation system acquires loginformation. The log management section 601 receives log information anda log information registration request from each processing section ofthe information processing apparatus 200. Then, at each time ofreception, the log management section 601 stores the received loginformation into the RAM 505.

The log management section 601 receives log information and a loginformation registration request transmitted from the SBs 208, the IOUs209, or the line switches 210 via the serial communication bus ports501. The log management section 601 receives log information and a loginformation registration request from the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 via the inter log information accumulationsection LAN ports 504.

For example, when receiving log information “application abnormaltermination” and a log registration request from an IOU 209, the logmanagement section 601 inputs into the RAM 505 the log information“application abnormal termination” and the information source “IOU” in acorresponding manner. At the time of reception of the log informationand the log registration request, the log management section 601 adoptsas the “acquisition date and time” the time of reception of the loginformation “application abnormal termination” and the log registrationrequest, and inputs the “acquisition date and time” into the RAM 505 ina corresponding manner to the log information.

The apparatus monitoring section 602 of operation system acquires thelog information. The apparatus monitoring section 602 monitors a stateof each of the individual processing sections of the informationprocessing apparatus 200 to detect abnormality. When detectingabnormality, the apparatus monitoring section 602 stores log informationconcerning the detected abnormality into the RAM 505 at each time ofdetection.

The apparatus monitoring section 602 monitors the individual processingsections of the information processing apparatus 200 that has the XBs201, the status display panel 202, the power supply unit 205, thecooling fan 206, the SBs 208, the IOUs 209, the line switches 210, andthe standby-system log information accumulation section 400. Theapparatus monitoring section 602 monitors, for example, whether thevoltage of each processing section of the information processingapparatus 200 has a normal value or not. At each time of detection ofabnormality, the apparatus monitoring section 602 stores the detectedlog information into the RAM 505.

When voltage abnormality in the power supply unit 205 is detected, theapparatus monitoring section 602 stores into the RAM 505 the loginformation “voltage abnormality”, the information source of the loginformation “power supply unit”, and the acquisition date and time“2008/3/3”.

The difference between the log information acquired by the logmanagement section 601 and the log information acquired by the apparatusmonitoring section 602 is described below briefly. The log managementsection 601 receives log information and a log registration request froma processing section among the individual processing sections of theinformation processing apparatus 200 that transmits log information tothe log information accumulation section spontaneously when abnormalityoccurs, and thereby the log management section 601 acquires the loginformation. In contrast, the apparatus monitoring section 602 monitorsalways or periodically the individual processing sections of theinformation processing apparatus 200, and thereby monitors the basicstates of the individual processing sections and the presence or absenceof abnormality in the voltages or the like. Then, when abnormality isdetected, the apparatus monitoring section 602 acquires log information.

The log registration request receiving section 603 of operation systemstores the log information into the storage section. The logregistration request receiving section 603 stores the log informationnewly acquired from the processing section of the information processingapparatus 200 into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatilememory A 508 provided in the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300. Further, at each time that the log informationis stored into the RAM 505 by the log management section 601 and theapparatus monitoring section 602, the log registration request receivingsection 603 reads the log information from the RAM 505. The logregistration request receiving section 603 stores the log informationread from the RAM 505 into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or thenonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300.

Further, the log registration request receiving section 603 transmitsthe log information read from the RAM 505 to the inter-systemcommunication section 604 of the operation system.

The inter-system communication section 604 of the operation systemtransmits the newly acquired log information to the another loginformation accumulation section. The inter-system communication section604 receives from the log registration request receiving section 603 thelog information newly acquired from the processing section of theinformation processing apparatus 200. The inter-system communicationsection 604 transmits the received new log information to the logregistration request receiving section 704 of standby system.

The inter-system communication section 604 transmits to the another loginformation accumulation sections all log information accumulated in thenonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300. Theinter-system communication section 604 receives the acquisition request,and transmits the log information accumulated in the nonvolatile memoryC 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the operation-systemlog information accumulation section, to the another log informationaccumulation sections serving as the transmitting sources of theacquisition request, that is, to the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400.

The inter-system communication section 604 receives an acquisitionrequest from the standby-system log information accumulation section400. The inter-system communication section 604 reads all loginformation stored in the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatilememory A 508 provided in the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 at the time of reception of the acquisitionrequest. The inter-system communication section 604 transmits allread-out log information to the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 having transmitted the acquisition request.

The following description is given for an exemplary case that thenonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 stores a setof the log information “voltage abnormality”, the information source“power supply unit”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/3”, and aset of the log information “application abnormal termination”, theinformation source “IOU”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/5”.The inter-system communication section 604 receives an acquisitionrequest from the standby-system log information accumulation section400. The inter-system communication section 604 reads from thenonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 the set of thelog information “voltage abnormality”, the information source “powersupply unit”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/3”, and the setof the log information “application abnormal termination”, theinformation source “IOU”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/5”.The inter-system communication section 604 transmits to thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400 the set of thelog information “voltage abnormality”, the information source “powersupply unit”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/3”, and the setof the log information “application abnormal termination”, theinformation source “IOU”, and the acquisition date and time “2008/3/5”which have been read.

The standby-system log information accumulation section 400 is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating aconfiguration of a standby-system log information accumulation sectionaccording to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the standby-systemlog information accumulation section 400 has a log management section703, a log registration request receiving section 704, an inter-systemcommunication section 702, and an initialization section 701.

At the time of startup of the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400, the initialization section 701 of standbysystem transmits an acquisition request to the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300, that is, to the inter-systemcommunication section 604, via the inter-system communication section702. The startup indicates, for example, a point in time that theexisting standby-system log information accumulation section 400 isexchanged so that a new standby-system log information accumulationsection 400 is connected to the information processing apparatus 200, oralternatively a point in time that power is initially supplied to theinformation processing apparatus 200 so that the information processingapparatus 200 has started up. It is assumed that at the time of startup,no log information is accumulated in the nonvolatile memory C 507 or thenonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 corresponding to the startup.

The inter-system communication section 702 of standby system relays anacquisition request to be transmitted from the initialization section701 to the operation-system log information accumulation section 300.

The inter-system communication section 702 transmits to the logmanagement section 703 of the standby system the log informationtransmitted from the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 to the standby-system log information accumulation section400. In response to the acquisition request transmitted from theinitialization section 701, the inter-system communication section 702receives the log information transmitted from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300. The inter-system communicationsection 702 transmits the received log information to the log managementsection 703.

The inter-system communication section 702 receives the log informationnewly acquired and transmitted by the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300. The inter-system communication section 702transmits the received log information to the log management section703.

The log management section 703 of the standby system stores into the RAM505 the log information transmitted from the inter-system communicationsection 702. The log management section 703 receives from theinter-system communication section 702: the log information transmittedfrom the operation-system log information accumulation section 300 inresponse to the acquisition request; and the log information newlyacquired and transmitted by the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300. The log management section 703 stores thereceived log information into the RAM 505.

The log registration request receiving section 704 of the standby systemstores the log information transmitted from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 into the nonvolatile memory C 507or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400. The log registration requestreceiving section 704 reads the log information stored into the RAM 505by the log management section 703, and stores the read-out loginformation into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memoryA 508 provided in the standby-system log information accumulationsection 400.

In an embodiment, the log management section 703 has stored into the RAM505 the log information transmitted from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 in response to the acquisitionrequest and the log information newly acquired and transmitted by theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300.

The log registration request receiving section 704 reads from the RAM505 the log information transmitted from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 in response to the acquisitionrequest, and stores the log information into the nonvolatile memory C507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400. After storing data, the logregistration request receiving section 704 reads from the RAM 505 thelog information newly acquired and transmitted by the operation-systemlog information accumulation section 300, and stores the log informationinto the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508provided in the standby-system log information accumulation section 400.

The log registration request receiving section 704 determines whetherinitialization processing has been performed or not, that is, whether atthe time of startup of the standby-system log information accumulationsection 400, acquiring of all log information stored in the storagesection provided in the operation-system log information accumulationsection has been performed or not. In other words, the log registrationrequest receiving section 704 determines whether or not the loginformation transmitted from the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 in response to the acquisition request has beenstored into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508provided in the standby-system log information accumulation section 400.

When the log registration request receiving section 704 determines thatthe initialization processing is not yet completed, until theinitialization processing is completed, the log registration requestreceiving section 704 does not store the log information newly acquiredand transmitted by the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300, into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memoryA 508 provided in the standby-system log information accumulationsection 400. On the other hand, when the log registration requestreceiving section 704 determines that the initialization processing hasbeen completed, the log registration request receiving section 704stores the log information newly acquired and transmitted by theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300, into thenonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400.

The process performed by the information processing apparatus isdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11. Description is givenfor the flow of initialization process, the flow of new log informationtransmission process, and the flow of new log information storingprocess.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an initialization process performedby the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG.8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an initialization process performedby the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG.9 is a flow chart illustrating a new log information transmissionprocess performed by the information processing apparatus according toan embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a new loginformation transmission performed by an information processingapparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flow chartillustrating a new log information storing process performed by theinformation processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

The initialization process performed by the information processingapparatus 200 (FIG. 2) is described below with reference to FIGS. 7 and8. The initialization process indicates process that at the time ofstartup, the standby-system log information accumulation section 400acquires all log information stored in the storage section provided inthe operation-system log information accumulation section 300.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 has started up (S101), the initializationsection 701 requests the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 to transmit all log information (S102). As shown in S201 andS202 in FIG. 8, the initialization section of the standby systemtransmits an acquisition request to the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 via the inter-system communication section.

In the standby-system log information accumulation section 400, the logmanagement section 703 writes the log information received from theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 (S103). Asshown with respect to S203 and S204 in FIG. 8, in the operation-systemlog information accumulation section, all log information is transmittedfrom the inter-system communication section to the log managementsection of the standby system. In the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400, the log management section 703 stores into theRAM 505 all log information received from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300.

In the standby-system log information accumulation section 400, the logregistration request receiving section 704 writes into the storagesection the log information registered in the queue (RAM 505) (S104).The log registration request receiving section 704 reads the loginformation stored in the RAM 505, that is, the log informationtransmitted from the operation-system log information accumulationsection 300 in response to the acquisition request, and stores theread-out log information into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or thenonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400. Further, upon completion of writing data intothe storage section, the log registration request receiving section 704deletes from the queue the log information registered in the queue. Whenno log information is registered in the queue, the write process is notgenerated that the log registration request receiving section 704 storesthe read-out log information into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or thenonvolatile memory A 508.

The new log information transmitting process performed by theinformation processing apparatus 200 is described below with referenceto FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, in the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300, when new log information is acquired by thelog management section 601 (S301 Yes), the operation-system loginformation accumulation section 300 updates the log information storedin the corresponding nonvolatile memory C 507 or its own nonvolatilememory A 508 (S302). The log registration request receiving section 603stores the new log information acquired by the log management section601 or the apparatus monitoring section 602.

The operation-system log information accumulation section 300 transmitsthe newly acquired log information to the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 (S303). As shown as S401 in FIG. 10, when thelog information acquired by the log management section 601 or theapparatus monitoring section 602 is stored, the log information istransmitted to the log management section of the standby system via theinter-system communication section of the operating system and theinter-system communication section of the standby system as shown asS402 to S404 of FIG. 10.

The process for storing new log information into the nonvolatile memoryC 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 is described below with referenceto FIG. 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, in the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400, when new log information is received (S501Yes), the received log information is stored into the queue (RAM 505)(S502). When receiving new log information from the operation-system loginformation accumulation section via the inter-system communicationsection 702, the log management section of the standby system stores thelog information into the RAM 505.

The log registration request receiving section 704 determines whetherinitialization process has been completed (S503). When the logregistration request receiving section 704 determines thatinitialization process has been completed (S503 Yes), the logregistration request receiving section 704 reflects all log informationregistered in the queue into the corresponding log information (S504).The log registration request receiving section 704 reads the loginformation that has been newly acquired and transmitted by theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 and that isaccumulated in the RAM 505, and stores the log information into thenonvolatile memory C 507 or the nonvolatile memory A 508 provided in thestandby-system log information accumulation section 400. Further, uponcompletion of writing data into the storage section, the logregistration request receiving section 704 deletes from the queue thelog information registered in the queue.

On the other hand, when the log registration request receiving section704 determines that initialization is not yet completed (S503 No), thelog registration request receiving section of the standby systemterminates the new log information storing process. The log registrationrequest receiving section 704 is not required to store the loginformation that has been newly acquired and transmitted by theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300 and that isaccumulated in the RAM 505, into the nonvolatile memory C 507 or thenonvolatile memory A 508 provided in the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400. This is because the storing process isperformed in the initialization process at operation S104.

According to an embodiment, without requiring monitoring of theoperation-system log information accumulation section to determinewhether the standby-system log information accumulation section hasstarted up or not, the data stored in the operation-system loginformation accumulation section and the data stored in thestandby-system log information accumulation section can be synchronizedwith each other. This, for example, reduces the process load ofsynchronization.

According to a typical information processing apparatus, whether astandby-system log information accumulation section has started up ornot is always monitored. Then, only when the standby-system loginformation accumulation section has started up, the log informationacquired by the operation-system log information accumulation section istransmitted to the standby-system log information accumulation section.Then, the standby-system log information accumulation section stores thetransmitted log information into the storage section, so that the loginformation is synchronized between the operation-system log informationaccumulation section and the standby-system log information accumulationsection.

In contrast, in the information processing apparatus according to anembodiment, at the time of startup, the standby-system log informationaccumulation section acquires all log information stored in theoperation-system log information accumulation section at the time, andstores the log information into the storage section. In the informationprocessing apparatus of an embodiment, when the standby-system loginformation accumulation section is exchanged and a new thestandby-system log information accumulation section is inserted, oralternatively when power is initially supplied to the informationprocessing apparatus so that the information processing apparatus hasstarted up, all log information stored in the operation-system loginformation accumulation section is acquired and stored into the storagesection.

The operation-system log information accumulation section of anembodiment transmits newly acquired log information to thestandby-system log information accumulation section at each time ofacquisition. Thus, the standby-system log information accumulationsection acquires the log information acquired by the operation-systemlog information accumulation section after the initialization process,and then stores the log information into the storage section.

In the information processing apparatus of an embodiment, withoutmonitoring the operation-system log information accumulation section todetermine whether the standby-system log information accumulationsection has started up, the log information stored in the storagesection of the standby-system log information accumulation section canbe synchronized with the log information stored in the storage sectionof the operation-system log information accumulation section.

According to an embodiment, at each time that log information istransmitted, the standby-system log information accumulation sectionstores once the log information into the cache, and then stores the loginformation stored in the cache after initialization. According to anembodiment, without loosing the log information transmitted from theoperation-system log information accumulation section, thestandby-system log information accumulation section can store the loginformation into the storage section of the standby-system loginformation accumulation section.

The present invention may be implemented in various modes other than theembodiment described above. Thus, another embodiment is described below.

The described embodiment is related to a case that the operation-systemlog information accumulation section 300 and the standby-system loginformation accumulation section 400 has the same structure. However,the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The two loginformation accumulation sections may have mutually differentstructures. For example, a standby-system log information accumulationsection need not to have the serial communication bus ports 501, theBUS-SWs 502, and the serial communication bus controller 503.

The described embodiment is related to a case that different kinds ofsoftware used respectively in the operation-system log informationaccumulation section 300 and the standby-system log informationaccumulation section 400 are stored in the nonvolatile memory A 508.However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. Forexample, the operation-system log information accumulation section andthe standby-system log information accumulation section may store thesame software in a nonvolatile memory A 508, and may execute process byusing necessary software.

The described embodiment is related to a technique that afterinitialization process, the standby-system log information accumulationsection 400 stores into the storage section the log information newlyacquired by the operation-system log information accumulation section300. However, the present invention is not limited to thisconfiguration. For example, the standby-system log informationaccumulation section may execute simultaneously in parallel to eachother: the initialization process; and the process for storing into thestorage section the log information newly acquired by theoperation-system log information accumulation section 300.

The process procedure(s), the control procedure(s), the detailedname(s), and the information including various kinds of data andparameters described above may be changed including arbitrarily.

The individual components of the individual apparatuses illustrated inthe described embodiment are function-conceptual ones. Thus, they neednot physically be constructed exactly as illustrated above. The detailedmode of distribution or integration of the individual apparatuses is notlimited to the illustrated one. All or a part of the individualapparatuses may be distributed or integrated functionally or physicallyin arbitrary units in accordance with various kinds of loads, operatingconditions, and the like. For example, the information processingapparatus 200 may have a processing section other than the processingsections shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6.

The described embodiment is related to a case that hardware logicrealizes the various kinds of process(es). However, the presentinvention is not limited to this configuration. That is, the process maybe implemented when a program prepared in advance is executed by acomputer. For example, log information may be synchronized between twocomputers when a program prepared in advance is executed by thecomputers.

An example of a computer that executes a program for implementing afunction similar to that of the log information accumulation sectionshown in the described embodiment is described below with reference toFIG. 12. FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams describing program(s) providedin a log information accumulation section according to an embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 12A, in a computer 3000 serving as a loginformation accumulation section, an operation section 3001 is connectedto a microphone 3002, a speaker 3003, a processing section 3004, adisplay 3005, a communication section 3006, a CPU 3010, a ROM 3011, anHDD 3012, and a RAM 3013 with each other through a bus 3009 and thelike.

The ROM 3011 stores, in advance, control program(s) that realizefunction(s) similar to those of the log management section 601, theapparatus monitoring section 602, the log registration request receivingsection 603, and the inter-system communication section 604 that aredescribed. As shown in FIG. 12A, the ROM 3011 stores a log managementprogram 3011 a, an apparatus monitoring program 3011 b, a logregistration request receiving program 3011 c, and an inter-systemcommunication program 3011 d. Similarly to the individual components ofthe log information accumulation section shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, theseprograms 3011 a to 3011 d may be integrated with each other oralternatively may be separated from each other depending on thenecessity. Further, while FIG. 12A is described with respect to programs3011 a to 3011 d, all or part of the operation(s) may be performed usinga single program stored in the ROM 3011.

When the CPU 3010 reads the programs 3011 a to 3011 d from the ROM 3011and then executes the programs, the programs 3011 a to 3011 d realize alog management process 3010 a, an apparatus monitoring process 3010 b, alog registration request receiving process 3010 c, and an inter-systemcommunication process 3010 d of operation system as shown in FIG. 12A.

A log information table 3012 a is provided in the HDD 3012. The loginformation table 3012 a corresponds to the contents of the nonvolatilememory C 507 and the nonvolatile memory A 508 shown in FIG. 3.

The CPU 3010 reads the log information table 3012 a and stores the tableinto the RAM 3013. Then, by using the log information data 3013 a storedin the RAM 3013, the CPU 3010 executes a log information accumulationprogram.

As illustrated in FIG. 12B, in a computer 4000 serving as a loginformation accumulation section, an operation section 4001 is connectedto a microphone 4002, a speaker 4003, a processing section 4004, adisplay 4005, a communication section 4006, a CPU 4010, a ROM 4011, anHDD 4012, and a RAM 4013 with each other through a bus 4009 and thelike.

The ROM 4011 stores control program(s) that realize function(s) similarto those of the initialization section 701, the inter-systemcommunication section 702, the log management section 703, and the logregistration request receiving section 704 as described above. As shownin FIG. 12B, the ROM 4011 stores in advance an initialization program4011 a, an inter-system communication program 4011 b, a log managementprogram 4011 c, and a log registration request receiving program 4011 d.Similarly to the individual components of the log informationaccumulation section shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, these programs 4011 a to4011 d may be integrated with each other or alternatively may beseparated from each other depending on the necessity. As mentionedpreviously, the operations of the computer are not limited to beingperformed by any particular number of program(s).

When the CPU 4010 reads the programs 4011 a to 4011 d from the ROM 4011and then executes the programs, the programs 4011 a to 4011 d realize aninitialization process 4010 a, an inter-system communication process4010 b, a log management process 4010 c, and a log registration requestreceiving process 4010 d as shown in FIG. 12B.

A log information table 4012 a is provided in the HDD 4012. Here, thelog information table 4012 a corresponds to the contents stored in thenonvolatile memory C 507 and the nonvolatile memory A 508 shown in FIG.3.

The CPU 4010 reads the log information table 4012 a and stores the tableinto the RAM 4013. Then, by using the log information data 4013 a storedin the RAM 4013, the CPU 4010 executes a log information accumulationprogram.

The information processing apparatus described above may be realizedwhen a program prepared in advance is executed by a computer such as apersonal computer and a workstation. The program can be distributedthrough a network such as the Internet from the other device that storessuch program. Further, the program may be recorded in acomputer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk(FD), a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and then may be read from therecording medium and executed by a computer.

Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it would beappreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made inthese embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit ofthe invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and theirequivalents.

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a processing unitthat performs a process; and a plurality of history informationaccumulation units, each including a storage section accumulatinghistory information concerning the process performed by the processingunit; wherein a first history information accumulation unit includes: astoring unit that stores history information acquired from theprocessing unit into a first storage section provided in the firsthistory information accumulation section; a first transmitting unit thattransmits history information accumulated in the first storage sectionto another history information accumulation section that transmitted anacquisition request, when receiving from the other history informationaccumulation section the acquisition request that requests acquisitionof the history information accumulated into the first storage section bysaid storing unit, and a second transmitting unit that transmits thehistory information to the other history information accumulationsection when acquiring the history information from the processing unit,a second history information accumulation section includes: anacquisition request transmitting unit that transmits the acquisitionrequest to the first history information accumulation section; a firststoring unit that stores the history information transmitted from thefirst transmitting unit into a second storage section provided in saidsecond history information accumulation section; and a second storingunit that stores the history information transmitted from the secondtransmitting unit into said second storage section.
 2. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second historyinformation accumulation section comprises: a third storing unit thatstores the history information into a cache memory when the historyinformation is transmitted from the second transmitting unit to thesecond history information accumulation section, and wherein the secondstoring unit stores into the second storage section the historyinformation stored in the cache memory by the third storing unit afterthe history information transmitted from the first transmitting unit isstored into the second storage section by the first storing unit.
 3. Aninformation processing method for controlling an information processingapparatus, the information processing method comprising: storing historyinformation newly acquired from one of a plurality of processingsections into a first storage section provided in a first historyinformation accumulation section that accumulates history informationconcerning a process performed by a processing section; transmitting anacquisition request for requesting acquisition of history informationaccumulated into the first storage section, when receiving theacquisition request; transmitting the history information accumulated inthe first storage section to another history information accumulationsection having transmitted the acquisition request; transmitting thehistory information to the other history information accumulationsection when newly acquiring history information from the processingsection; transmitting the acquisition request to the first historyinformation accumulation section at a time of startup; and storing thetransmitted history information into a second storage section providedin a second history information accumulation section.
 4. Acomputer-readable storage medium having therein a history informationaccumulation section control program for causing a computer to executeoperations, comprising: storing history information newly acquired fromone of a plurality of processing sections into a first storage sectionprovided in a first history information accumulation section thataccumulates history information concerning a process performed by aprocessing section; transmitting an acquisition request for requestingacquisition of history information accumulated into the first storagesection, when receiving the acquisition request; transmitting thehistory information accumulated in the first storage section to anotherhistory information accumulation section having transmitted theacquisition request; transmitting the history information to the otherhistory information accumulation section when newly acquiring historyinformation from the processing section; transmitting the acquisitionrequest to the first history information accumulation section at a timeof startup; and storing the transmitted history information into asecond storage section provided in a second history informationaccumulation section.
 5. A method of information processing method,comprising: directly storing history information of each processing in afirst storage connected with multiple processors; and transmitting eachof the history information including newly acquired history informationto a second storage responsive to a request, thereby synchronizing thefirst and second storage without requiring a determination of occurrenceof a startup.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein saidtransmitting occurs upon an initial startup of the second storage.